The Greatest Archmage
by rsrwrites
Summary: A what if story about Megumin, where she accepts Rex's invitation to join their party.


**Disclaimer: This fanfiction contains heavy light novel spoilers, especially for the Megumin spin-off light novels.**

* * *

**Prologue**

My name is Megumin!

I'm the top mage of the Crimson Demon clan, an Archmage that uses the most lethal spell Explosion magic. I had driven off the evil god's minions, defeated two greater devils and despite all of that, someone like me was on the verge of starvation.

For the past few days, I've been sitting in the same corner of the adventurer's guild, waiting for someone to post a mage recruitment notice on the board. For somebody who managed to defeat Hoost, finding a party to join should've been a walk in the park.

However, not a single party came forth to recruit me.

"Hey. What are you doing here? You still haven't found anyone to party with?"

There was a voice coming from above my head as I sprawled on the table. I only knew a single person who had this annoying voice. It was Rex.

"What? Your wounds are healed? And are you here to mock me? Are you picking a fight? I'm very hungry now, so I'm in a bad mood. If you are picking a fight, I will take you on. After all, it is in our nature as Crimson Demons."

"No no, wrong! I won't dare to pick a fight with you! Spare me. I didn't mean it that way."

Hearing my words as I sprawled on the table, Rex was scared out of his wits.

"… Hey, if no party wants you, why not join my party?"

He said in a tone as if he was inviting me for lunch. I quickly raised my head and grabbed Rex's belt.

"What did you just say!?"

"Uh! No. I'm just asking if you want to join my party. After all, my party is quite famous. I think someone like you, who could use that powerful magic, would be useful."

An elite team was inviting me to join!

"Elaborate! Tell me more details!"

"Ah. Okay. Uh, how should I say this? For us, the monsters in this region are no longer worth the effort, so, uh…"

Then Rex pointed his thumb towards the guild entrance. Sophie and Terry were standing there with their luggage.

"…"

"We intend to move our base of operation to the war zone— that is, at the capital. We think we could earn more there."

This suggestion in itself was very attractive.

"There are a lot of enemies there, and powerful ones at that. If you join, you would surely accomplish a lot, even if it was your one-use spell."

When I thought about my own future, going with them to the capital might be the correct choice.

"Capital, huh… Would I become a liability since my level is still low?"

I said as I let go of Rex's belt.

"Ah? What are you saying? If you are considered a liability, then we are practically…!"

"And—"

I interrupted Rex's sentence.

"Can't you stay here for a while more? I'm starting to like this town."

I said and smiled.

"… What a strange fellow. But this town is full of weirdos, so I guess it suits you."

Rex said in amusement and smiled.

"Well, then we're leaving. I heard the demon king's army is becoming more active. We need to hurry to the imperial capital and make a name for ourselves."

He turned and left as he waved at me. In a moment of mixed emotions, I watched him leave without knowing what to say and suddenly came back to my senses. Oh no. I shouldn't be this stubborn at a time like this! I run-up to the door and shouted.

"Wait!"

As Rex, Sophie and Terry turned their heads toward me, I flickered my cloak valiantly.

"My name is Megumin! As an Archmage from the Crimson Demon village, who controls the strongest offensive magic, Explosion, I can never back down from a challenge and I shall accompany you on your perilous journey to the capital!"

* * *

**Chapter 1 "The capital"**

"Your speech at the guild was precious."

I continued stuffing my mouth with food as Sophie kept teasing me.

" 'I shall accompany you on your perilous journey.' I knew asking Rex to recruit you was a great idea."

"Did you really think that we would travel all the way to the capital on foot? We did get that huge bounty, so we certainly can afford a teleport trip and still have plenty leftover."

After joining up with Rex's party back in Axel, much to my shock, our trip was shorter than I expected. We went straight to the teleport store and in a few short moments, we started a search for a place to satiate my hunger. Luckily for me, there was a small food stall right after the entrance gate.

"Speak for yourself, Terry. I don't have a coin in my wallet."

"Yeah, now that you mention it. Me, Rex and Sophie discussed this and we believe that you should get your share for defeating that devil. You did save our asses back there."

As Terry said that, Rex procured a rather big coin pouch from his bag.

"I know you wanted us to split it, but you more than deserve it, so we kept your share in case you joined up with us."

They did put their lives on the line to stall that devil Hoost for Yunyun, while I only stole their thunder by finishing him off. The whole ordeal was due to me anyway, or to be more precise, it was due to Chomusuke attracting all sorts of problems. Even though I wanted them to keep the reward, I couldn't say no to their insistence.

"Thanks."

After finishing my meal, I finally got a chance to check out my surroundings. Unlike Axel, the capital was absolutely stunning in more ways than one. We were sitting right next to the city entrance, but even on the outskirts everything radiated wealth and power. From here we could even see the majestic inner castle, where the royal family lived for generations. The inner castle felt completely unreachable, as one would need a personal invitation from the royal family itself. Suddenly, Rex brought me back from my daydream.

"Alright, we are going to meet up with an old friend of ours, while you gals could explore the city. Let's assemble in the guild in two hours. We will discuss our further plans then."

* * *

Sophie and I split off the group and went to the market district. As we went through bustling streets, Sophie pointed out that we do need to stock up on potions, so we entered the first apothecary that we found. Sophie bought a dozen salves and a couple of general antidotes for an insane price.

"..."

"You look concerned Megumin for some reason. You know that we lack a dedicated healer, and these healing salves are a godsend to us."

"No, it is just that buying these at a full price still stings."

"Full price?"

"These salves cost a fraction of this price back home."

Home. It had been quite a while already. I should write a letter to my parents soon. As I wondered how Komekko was doing, Sophie interjected.

"Oh yeah, I heard that the best magic shops buy their supplies only from the Crimson Demon village."

She must saw me sulk a little, as her tone was much more cheerful than before.

"I was always curious about your village. You have to tell everything about your life there."

"Maybe later."

Since then, we've been mostly window shopping until I noticed a smithy, which specialized in magical enchantments. After a costly transaction and a short wait, I couldn't hold back my gaze.

"Ahh. Just look at it. The colour, the glister. Ahhh. Magic is emanating from my manatite staff."

"So, this is going to empower your explosion spell even further?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I can't wait to test it out in the field!"

Sophie chuckled at my answer and continued her questions.

"Alright, why explosion spell in particular?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, you probably could've learnt advanced magic instead, so why explosion?"

I flicked my cloak and proclaimed.

"Well you see, in my previous life, I was the god of destruction! It is in my nature to seek the most powerful spell known to man and there was only a single spell that could fill that void."

She didn't seem convinced, so I went on.

"In order to satisfy my need for destruction, I must blow something up every single day... H-hey, why are you laughing again? Are you looking for a fight?"

"No, no, forgive me. I think we should definitely find a place to test your upgraded staff later tonight."

"Yes! We most definitely should find an appropriate target to annihilate!"

Sophie's smile began widening yet again.

"You asked for this!"

I shouted as I pounced on her without any hesitation.

* * *

**Int****erlude: Sophie**

After a small scuffle, we went to our meet up spot in the adventurer's guild. There was a clear difference in the quality of the adventurers in here compared to the ones staying in Axel. Even from a single glance, you could see high-level equipment and their bearers had an aura of strength coming from them. At the far corner table, we saw Rex and Terry waving us in. As we sat with them, Rex started the conversation.

"Well, we got a good news for you... You look roughed up. Did you get in a brawl?"

I glanced at Megumin and answered.

"Something like that. Don't worry, it got resolved."

"If you say so, back to the good news. We have an old pal here running a local inn nearby. I will introduce him later. He owed us a favour, so he let us rent out two rooms at a good discount."

"Good to hear that, now we won't have to worry about the lodging. As for us, we bought some first aid supplies and Megumin splurged on a staff upgrade."

"Yeah, that was hard not to notice it, as that weirdo has been hugging it this whole time."

It looked like she was back in her own world.

"I guess, we can pick our first quest tomorrow in the morning. Let me show you the road to the inn."

"Before that, we still have one more thing to do."

* * *

Eventually, we found the perfect spot. It was an old abandoned quarry a short walk away from the city. The three of us were silently observing Megumin, as she removed her eyepatch and started chanting her spell. You could feel the immense power concentrating on the tip of her staff. The chanting grew louder and even the light started coming out from her staff and then she released it all.

"Explosion!"


End file.
